Category Archives: Politics

“In the struggle, of which we have noted only a few phrases, this mass becomes united, and constitutes itself as a class for itself. The interests it defends become class interests. But the struggle of class against class is a political struggle.” — Karl Marx, The Poverty of Philosophy

How does change happen? A review of John Gaventa’s Power and Powerlessness

Why, in a social relation involving the domination of a non-elite by an elite, does challenge to that domination not occur? What is there in certain situations of social deprivation that prevents issues from arising, grievances from being voiced, or … Continue reading

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Three types of revolution

The issue of revolution looms large in the minds of socialists. The bewildering array of radical groups, most of whom proclaim their allegiance to revolution as the central feature which defines their existence as radicals, gives the impression of them … Continue reading

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Interview with Gael Le Mignot of the Parti communiste français

The Parti communiste français or, for us impoverished monoglots, the French Communist Party, was founded in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution and has seen many highs (the anti-fascist struggle) and lows (the decline in the 1990s). Unlike most of the far … Continue reading

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Beyond law: towards an alternative to legal regulation under socialism

The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich and the poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread. –Anatole France, Le Lys Rouge As a Marxist and a lawyer, I often find … Continue reading

Posted in Bourgeois politics, History, Philosophy, Politics, Proletarian politics | 3 Comments

War of Position/War of Manoeuvre

The following was a discussion document I prepared for the Irish anarchist organisation, the Workers Solidarity Movement in January 2010, written to shift the organisation’s response to the economic crisis. It set out to state clearly that revolution in the … Continue reading

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Hypermodern Political Strategy

Aron Nimzowitsch was a brilliant chess theorist who broke new ground in the 1920s with his treatise: My System. The system he proposed has become the most famous exposition of what is known as the Hypermodern school. Positional play, the … Continue reading

Posted in Politics, Proletarian politics | 5 Comments

Telekommunist Manifesto: a useful but faulty map

There’s a common wisdom, especially prevalent in the anglosphere, where it is, admittedly, closer to being true, that “information workers”–computer programmers, network and system administrators, and the like–have a particular affinity for capitalist ideology, in its most extreme forms as … Continue reading

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Which road to socialism?

Socialism is about power. Fundamentally any conception of socialism worth its salt must include the empowerment of the working class to be the master of its own destiny. Whilst we can debate the high ideals and sketch visions of what … Continue reading

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On ideology and culture

“Related to this, but not entirely the same, is the tendency to classify certain movements not by their actual structure, forms, and ways of struggle, but by the specific, formal ideology they adopt to describe themselves. As such, a movement … Continue reading

Posted in Cultural analysis, Culture, Politics, Proletarian politics | Comments Off on On ideology and culture

Everything You Know About Decentralisation is Wrong

Decentralisation has become a fashionable notion in modern politics, finding common expression in both the libertarian left and the conservative right. It seems that Greenpeace, local-food advocates , anarchists and even Tories are united in the belief that decentralisation is … Continue reading

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“Mass partyism”: a dissenting opinion

“One must not allow oneself to be misled by the cry for ‘unity.’ Those who have this word most often on their lips are those who sow the most dissension, just as at present the Jura Bakuninists in Switzerland, who … Continue reading

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Notes on Left-Unity

Currently there is a quite a lot of reflection along the left about how we are going to recompose as a political force. The idea that this is necessary is widely shared, since it’s absolutely absurdly obvious that despite a … Continue reading

Posted in Politics, Proletarian politics | 8 Comments

A socialist party for our times

The question of the party, broadly understood as the nature and relation to the working class of its political organisational form, whether we call it a party or not, has produced a fecund and abundant literature within Marxism and elsewhere … Continue reading

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Cutting the crap: epistemology, science, the left and you

Science and the Left Once upon a time the relation between science and socialism was pretty direct and self-explanatory. Not in vain, Marxists call ourselves scientific socialists, when we can stop our unceasing and largely fruitless factional struggles, that is. … Continue reading

Posted in Critique of the Left, Philosophy, Sci-tech | 12 Comments